FOREST GROVE – Pacific received big shooting nights from Carson Bartlett (Jr., St. Helens, Ore.) and Colin Wester (So., Sherwood, Ore.) as the Boxers rolled to an 87-67 victory over Willamette Friday night in Northwest Conference men's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
Bartlett poured in 25 points on 9 of 16 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Wester came off the bench to pour in 23 points on 8 of 12 from the field and four three-pointers. Wester completed a double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with three assists.
LeMar Anglin (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) added 19 points and eight rebounds as the Boxers (3-9, 2-1 NWC) shot 50.8 percent from the field (16-31) and 40 percent from three-point range. The victory moved the Boxers into a tie for third place with Puget Sound in the young NWC season.
Sean Dart led the Bearcats (3-9, 0-3 NWC) with 21 points, connecting on 8 of 11 as Willamette shot 35.5 percent from the field (22-62) as a team. Taylor Mounts added a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds while Terrell Malley cashed in for 11.
At the start of the contest, though, it was Willamette that looked as if they would have their way with their fast-paced style of offense and substitution pattern. The Bearcats turned five Pacific turnovers into a 10-0 lead over the first two-and-a-half minutes. Willamette maintained the 10-point lead until a Wester three-pointer at the 14:49 mark sparked a 16-5 run that gave Pacific a 20-19 lead midway through the period.
The Boxers owned a 23-21 lead when Wester hit a lay-in to open up another 12-0 run, which culminated on a Wester trey that put the Boxers up 35-21 with 3:07 to go. Willamette managed to cut the lead to 11 points at halftime, 41-30.
Willamette worked to make a game of it over the first 10 minutes of the second half, cutting the Pacific lead to five on a Dart lay-up a minute-and-a-half into the period. The Boxers extended the advantage back to 12 on Anglin's lay-in at the 15:15 mark before the Bearcats came back within give on Trevor Bos' trey with 13:19 to go.
From that point, it was all Boxers as Anglin hit back-to-back lay-ins to make it a 12-point lead again, 61-45, midway through the half. The Bearcats would come no closer than 10 the rest of the way and were within 12 points with six minutes left before the Boxers went on a 9-0 run that put Pacific up 78-58 with three minutes to go.
The Boxers return to the road on Saturday, heading south to take on George Fox. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Willamette returns home to host Linfield.